Cotton cleaner and renovator.



J. C. GARNER & C. S. REYNOLDS.

COTTON CLEANER AND RENOVATOR.

APPLICATION FILED Jun/1,1911. RENEWED FEB. 21. 1916.

Patented Apr. 18, 1916.

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1. c. GARNER & c. s. REYNOLDS.

COTTON CLEANE R AND RENOVATOR. APPLICATION FILED 1u1.Y1. 1911. 11151121 1120 r511. 21. 1916.

Patented Apr. 18, 1.916.

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J. C. GARNER & C. S REYNOLDS.

COTTON CLEANER AND RENOVATOR. 7 APPLICATION FILED JuLYI, um. RENEWED FEB. 21, 1916.

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J. C. GARNER & (1.8. REYNOLDS.

COTTON CLEANER AND RENOVATOR.

APPLlCATlON FILED JULY? 1911. RENEWED FEB. 21. 1916.

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" SAS AT FFTtUW JAMES C. GARNER, 0F DALLAS, AND CHARLES S. REYNOLDS, OF HOUSTON, TEXAS, ASSIGNORS, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO GARNER BEGIN MACHINERY COMPANY,

OF HOUSTON, TEXAS, A CORPORATION OF TEXAS.

COTTON CLEANER AND RENOVATOR.

TJLSOJLSS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 18, 1916.

Application filed July 7, 1911, Serial No. 637,353. Renewed February 21, 1916. Serial No. 79,796.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JAMES C. GARNER, residing at Dallas, in the county of Dallas and State of Texas, and CHARLES S. REYN- onns, residing at Houston, in the county of Harris and State of Texas, citizens of the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cotton Cleaners and Renovators, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to machines for cleaning and renovating cotton and other similar fibrous materials.

In the cotton industry as it now exists a considerable amount of so-called second or low-grade cotton comes upon the market and commands a relatively low price. This cotton comes from various sources, but one of the sources is found in the lint which falls from the gins in the regular process of ginning, and the lint which falls fro-m the presses in pressing the cotton. Such waste cotton falling upon the floor is swept up as it accumulates and is finally baled, together with the trash and dirt which naturally accumulates with it. Other sources of this second grade cotton might be pointed out, but it is sufficient to note that while coming from various sources, the cotton fiber is in large part of comparatively good quality, its defects being largely due to its tangled and trashy condition. It has been found that the cotton fiber in such a condition can be cleaned and renovated so that the resulting product compares very favorably with the cotton which is rated on the market as firstgrade. In carrying out such a cleaning and renovating process in accordance with the present invention, the cotton which has been pressed solid in bales is first opened up, partially separated and fluffed and is then still further separated into minute flakes, being finally condensed and pressed. During. the preliminary opening up and flufiing of the cotton the coarser and heavier particles of the dirt and other foreign materials are separated, and in the subsequent final separation of the fiber, the latter is thoroughly straight ened out and the last traces of dirt are separated.

The present invention relates more espe .eially to the mean which are employed in.

the final separation of the fiber during which it is thoroughly straightened out and the last traces of dirt are removed, and the invention has for its general object the provision of efiicient and effective devices for performing this work.

The objects of the invention more specifically stated are the provision of an im proved saw or picker drum for working the fiber, the provision of improved means for separating the dirt or impurities from the fiber when it is opened up or disintegrated by the saw drum, and the provision of improved devices for separating and handling such parts of the fiber as are not thoroughly cleaned and renovated so that they can be subjected to a second treatment. The manner of attaining this, as well as any additional objects of the invention, will be readily understood from the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings. In the drawingsFigure 1 is a right side elevation of a machine embodying the invention in its preferred form. Fig. 2 is a left side elevation of the machine. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the machine, a part thereof being broken away. Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the machine. Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of the speed changing device which drives one of the feeding or stutling rolls. Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the shaking grate or screen, taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the improved saw drum employed, the saws being shown in their unflexed condition ready for sharpening, and a portion of the drum being broken away to permit illustration. on a larger scale. Fig. 8 is a similar view of the saw drum showing the saws flexed or crimped as they are when in operation in the machine. Fig. 9 is a transverse sectional view of the saw drum.

Referring in detail to the construction illustrated, 1 designates as an entirety the frame of the machine. This frame comprises upright side sections 2 and 3 hav ng suitable pedestals 2 and 3 and these side parts of the frame are rigidly connected by transverse frame sections such as those at 4 and 5. In the inlet or mouth 6 at the front end of the machine are mounted two parallel stuffing rollers 7 and 8. These rollers are. carried by shafts 9 and 10 res shafts l8 and 19 respectively. The roller 17 is disposed at a higher elevationthan the roller 16, so that the belt 15 inclinesupward and rearward.

20 is a belt tightening .roller., carried in movable. bearings 21 and 22 which can be adjusted up and down by means of the screws 23 and 24 respectively to adjust the tension of the belt 15. Abovetheconveyer belt 15 is a second conveyer belt 25. which runs over rollers 26 and 27. The roller 26 is mounted .on a transverse shaft 28 which is disposed in a vertical plane betweenvthe shafts l8 and 19, and the roller '27 is mounted on a transverse shaft 29. Theshaft 28 is disposed higher than .the shaft 29 and the latter is arrangeddirectly above .and

relatively close ,to the shaft .19 so that the lower run of the belt 25 inclines downward and rearward. Thus the lower run. ofthe belt 25. and the upper run of the belt 15 .are arranged to converge and form a rearwardly contracting passage-way.

30 is a belt tightening roller mounted in a manner similar to the mounting of the roller 20 and designedto adjust the tension of the belt 25. -The shaft .29 is mounted in slidable bearing plates 31 and 32, which are pressed yieldingly downward by. springs 33 and34 respectively, each spring being interposed between its bearing plate and a nut 35 on a threaded rod 36 \'vhich.is carried by a lug 37 on the frame of the machine.

Directly behind the rollers 17 and 27 are arranged a pair of feeding and gripping rollers 88 and .39. The roller 38is carried by a shaft 40, which is mounted in stationary hearings on the machine frame, and the roller 39'is carried by a shaft 41, which is mounted in bearings carried by the yieldingly. mounted'plates 31 and 32. The rollers 38 and 39 are preferably corrugated, as indicated in Fig. 4.

Directly behind the feeding andgripping rollers 38 and 39 is arranged 'a sawdrum or ,picker drum.

.on a transverse shaft .43. This ,shaft is mounted in bearings 44 and 45 which have screw adjusting devices 46 to adjust the bearings forward or backward along approximately horizontal lines.

This drum comprises a. serlesof saw (1181(342 whlch aremounted The saw disks are prevented from turning on the shaft 48 by means of a key 47, or other suitable ,device, but are freehto slide axially on the shaft. The saws are interposed between .two heads or clamping disks 48, 49 on the shaft 48 and these clamping disks can be forced toward each other by means of nuts 50 and 51. The saw disks are secured in. definite spaced relation to each therods53, 53 is mounted .at one end in a boss or block 48 on the clamping head or disk48, and the rods 54,54 are similarly mounted in bosses 49 on the head 49.

It will be observed onreference to Figs. 7,8 and. 9that the rods 53 and bosses 48 are diametrically opposite each other as are also t he rods 54 and bosses 49 and that the two sets of rods and bosses are disposed 90 apart. The ,saw disks are normally plain or flat, as shown in Fig. 7, but they are made thin enoughso that they can be flexed .or crimped and are made of a material havingsuliicient elasticity so that they will return to their normal form if the flexing forces, are removed.

In constructing the drum theparts are first assembled in the positions shown in Fig. 7, and then one or both of the nuts 50 and -51 .are screwed toward each other, whereupon the pressure of-the lugs 48, 48 and 49", 49 against the saw disks causes the latter to be flexed or crimped, as shown in Fig. 8. Thesaw disks when thus crimped have mutually overlapping parts, so that when the samdrum is rotated every point ,in a line along the surface thereof is touched four times during each rotation. The clamping head 48 is preferably provided with holes .55, and the head 49 with holes 56 to receive the. ends of the rods 54 and 53 respectively when the saw disks are compressed as in Fig. 8.

.WhCIl thesaws are in operation they are crimpedorflexed, as in Fig. 8, but when, after continued use, the teeth of the saws become dull or worn and it is desirable to sharpen or. gum them the clamping heads are loosenedup to permit the saw disks to swing back to their normal fiat form and then they can readily be sharpened. In fact, when the saws have been thus restored to their flat form, they can be sharpened or .gummed by the standard machines which are commonly employed for this purpose, whereasusuch gumming machines cannot be used at all upon the saws when in their crimped or flexedform.

The saw drum is arranged to run relatively close to the feeding and. gripping rollers 38 and 39, as indicated in Fig. 4. Be-

neath the saw drum is arranged a motebrush or drum 57 mounted upon a transverse shaft 58. The shaft 58 is mounted in adjustable bearings 58, 58 ,'so that the motebrush can be adjusted toward and from the periphery of the saw drum. The motebrush is arranged to run close to the toothed periphery of the saw drum and in the opposite direction, the function of the brush being to disengage from the saw teeth any foreign particles or matted bits of fiber of suflicient size to protrude beyond the fine straight particles of fiber adhering to the saw teeth.

Beneath the mote brush and the saw drum is suspended an inclined screen or grate 59. This screen or grate comprises a suitable frame structure upon which is mounted a series of longitudinally disposed beveled bars 60. At its upper front end the screen is supported by a transverse shaft 61 and eccentrics 62 thereon which fit in apertures in the screen frame. At its rear lower end the screen is supported by swinging links 63 the upper ends of which are secured to the machine frame. It will be seen that when the shaft 61 and its eccentrics 62 are rotated the screen is given backward and forward and up and down shaking motion.

Directly beneath the lower end of the grate or screen 59 is a transversely arranged conveyer belt 64 carried on suitable rollers 05, one of which can be driven, as by a belt 66.

Directly behind the saw drum is a rapidly moving cylindrical doffing brush 67 and this dofling brush is carried by a transverse shaft 68 which is mounted in bearings 69 and 70 and which can be adjusted to move the brush toward or from a periphery of the saw drum. The casing part 5 closes the space above the do-ffing brush and the space below said brush is inclosed by a. curved casing plate 71. 72 is a pipe leading from the easing surrounding the dofling brush into a transversely.arranged trunk or conduit 73 into which the fiber after treatment is discharged and conveyed away.

The various rotary parts which have been referred to above are driven by the following devices:

75 is a belt driven by any suitable power shaft. This belt passes around and drives a pulley 75 on the shaft 413 of the saw drum, thence around an idle pulley 76 and thence around the pulley 77 on the shaft 68 of the dofling brush. The belt 74 thus serves to drive the saw drum in a counter-clockwise direction and the dofling brush in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1, and as the belt pulley 77 is much smaller than the pulley 7 5 the doffing brush is driven at much higher peripheral speed than the saw drum. The shaft 43 carries at its end opposite the pulley 75 a pulley 78, and in line with this pulley is a pulley 79 on. the Shaft 58 of the mote-brush, the pulley 79 being driven from the pulley 78 by a belt 80. As the 1notebrush is mounted to be adjusted toward and from the saw drum, a belt tightening pi lley 81 on the swinging arm 82 is provided. As the pulley 79 is small in relation to the pulley 78, the mote-brush is driven at a much higher speed than the saw drum.

83 is a belt pulley mounted on shaft 4-3 of the saw drum outside of the pulley 78, and Set is a pulley mounted upon the short shaft which has a bearing support at one end on the main frame part 2 and at its other end in the bracket 86 carried by said frame 2. The pulley 84 is driven from the pulley 83 by a belt 87. 88 is a spur gear on the shaft and in mesh therewith is a gear 89 on the eccentric shaft 61 of the screen 59, the latter being thus driven from the shaft 85.

90 is a shaft having a bearing support 91 on the main frame and a bearing 92 carried by the bracket 86. The lower rear end of the shaft 90 carries a bevel. pinion 93 which meshes with a bevel gear 94 on the shaft 85. At its front end the shaft 90 carries a worm 95 which operatively engages worm wheels 96 and 97 on the shafts 18 and 28 respectively. The shaft 90 is thus driven from the shaft 85 and serves in turn to drive at a reduced speed the conveyer belt rollers 16 and 26.

The roller shafts 19 and 29, which are driven by the conveyer belts 15 and 25 respectively, carry at their ends spur gears 98, 98 and 99, 99 respectively. Each of the gears 98 meshes with an idle gear 100 which in turn meshes with and drives a gear 101 on the shaft 40 of the feeding and gripping roller 38. Similarly each of the gears 99 meshes with an idle gear 102 which in turn drives a gear 103 on the shaft 11 of the upper feed roller 39. The feed rollers 38 and 39 are thus driven from the rollers 17 and 27 respectively.

The shaft 28 carries in addition to the worm wheel 97 av sprocket wheel 104, and in line with this wheel is a sprocket wheel 105 mounted. on a short shaft 106, carried by a bearing bracket 107. A chain passing over the sprocket wheels serves to drive the shaft 106. The shaft 9 of the stuffing roller 7 is driven from the shaft 106 preferably through a change speed gear. As shown. this gear is of the cone-pulley type, a conepulley. 108 being mounted on the shaft 106 and a similar pulley 109 being oppositely disposed on the shaft 9. A short belt 110 runs between the adjacent surfaces of the cone-pulleys and serves to transmit the movement of the pulley 108 to the pulley 109 by frictional engagement.

111 is a belt shifter mounted on a bracketarm or rod 112, and 113 is a. set screw for holding the belt shifter in adjusted position. With these latt r dri ing n c io s t w ll be seen that the stufi'ing roller 7 is positively driven from the shaft 28 of the upper conveyer belt.

, In the operation of the machine the cotton or other fiber, which has been opened up, fluffed and partially cleaned and renovated, is fed into the mouth 6 of the machine upon the stuffing rollers 7 and 8. As one of these rollers is positively driven the fiber is caught and fed downward upon the lower conveyer belt 15. This belt carries the cotton rearward and in conjunction with the upper belt 25 simultaneously advances and compresses the cotton so as to form it into a compact and more or less homogeneous bat.

As the bat of fiber passes from between the conveyer belts 15 and 25 it is received by the feeding and gripping rollers 38 and 39. The corrugated surfaces of these rolls grip the bat of fiber firmly and feed it slowly toward and against the rapidly moving toothed surface of the saw drum. As this drumrotates the entire end of the bat is covered several times during each rotation of the drum by the saw teeth thereof, this result being secured by reason of the crimped or flexed formation of the saw disks. As the saw teeth in their rapid movement engage the end of the bat of fiber they separate or strip minute parts of the fiber from the bat, carrying them downward and rearwardon the rapidly moving surface of the drum, During this movement of the finely divided fiber any particles of dirt or impurities which adhere to the fiber are separated by the combined action of gravity and centrifugal force, such dirt or impurities falling through the shaking screen 59 upon the fioor, where it can from time to timebe gathered up.

If the fiber as it is fed against the saw drum is in a matted condition so that some of the fibers are not straightened out by the action of the saw teeth as they strip the fiber from the bat, such matted bits of the fiber will project from the surface of the saw drum somewhat farther than the straightened and unmatted fibers, and any such bits of matted fiber will be engaged and knocked from the saw drum by the mote-brush 57. Fiber thus removed from the saw drum falls upon the shaking grate or screen 59 and slides upon the grate bars tothe lower end thereof where it is delivered onto the conveyer belt 64. This conyeyer can be arranged to deliver at any desired point and the fiber so delivered can be subjected to a. second treatment.

The straightened and purified fiber adheres to the saw drum and is finally removed therefrom by the dofiing brush 67, which, running at a high speed, strips the fiber from the saw teeth and carries it upward and over to the discharge conduit 72,

where it is thrown from the brush under the combined action of centrifugal force and air suction in the air trunk 73, said suction bein produced in any suitable manner.

The cotton as it is delivered into the trunk 73 is in a thoroughly purified and renovated condition, practically all foreign particles having been separated and the fibers having been thoroughly straightened out, and, of course, the fiber is in a very light and fiuffy condition. In this state the fiber can be carried from the trunk 73 to a condenser and after the air has been pressed from it, it can be pressed in bales or other desired form.

When, after continued use, the saw teeth become dull and worn they can readily be sharpened by loosening up the clamping heads of the drum to permit the saw disks to spring back to fiat form so that eflieient gunnning tools can readily be used upon the saws. After sharpening, the saws are again flexed or crimped by tightening up the clamping heads.

The periphery of the saw drum may at any time be adjusted toward or from the feeding and gri 'iping rollers 38 and 39 by adjusting the bearings t-lz, 4:5 of the drum shaft 43. Similarly the mote-brush 57 and the doffing brush 67 can be adjusted toward or from the saw drum as wear of the brushes or other conditions may require.

Ve do not herein present claims for the novel features incident to the combining of the rolls, the picker drum, the dofling device, the inclined grate. etc, preferring to present claims herein for the novel features incident to the picker drum, but we reserve the right to present claims for the other subjects-matter in other applications about to be filed.

One of the novel matters incident to the drum which. we have shown and described is that it is made up of separable radially arranged axially spaced disks-secured rigidlv to a shaft, the resulting drum-like body having its teeth so arranged that as they rotate they intersect, at every point, the line parallel to the axis and passing horizontally through the edge or front end of the cotton ribbon or bat so that every particle of the fiber and every particle of dust, sand or foreign material is impinged upon by a tooth, no matter at what point along said line it may be. The disk saws being separable they. or any one of them, can be taken out at any time for sharpening or replacing by another. As they are axially spaced there is a chamber or space between each one and the next which can receive material to such an extent as to prevent the teeth from becoming quickly clogged and as these spaces or chambers are themselves radial and without obstructions, radially, the centrifugal action of the drum instantly whirls outward, freeing any materials that tend to accumulate therein; and air currents can pass without impediment directly through these passages to keep them clean. This is a contra-distinction from the disks that are arranged non-radially, that is, are arranged in planes that are inclined to the axis of rotation.

What We claim is 1. A picker drum for fiber cleaning machines comprising in combination a rotata ble shaft, a series of elastic saw disks thereon, said disks being movable axially on the shaft but held against rotation relative thereto, means for spacing the disks from each other, and clamping devices for securing the disks rigidly together and for flexing their peripheries axially, said clamping devices being constructed to be readily loosened to permit the disks to spring back to flat form whereby they can readily be sharpened.

A picker drum for fiber cleaning machines comprising a rotatable shaft, a series of elastic saw disks mounted thereon, said disks being movable axially of the shaft but held against rotation relative thereto, means for spacing the disks from each other, and clamping heads on the shaft between which the disks are arranged, one of said clampii'lg heads being adjustable axially of the shaft and adapted when forced toward the other head to flex the peripheries of the disks axially, said elamp ing head being readily adjustable to loosen the disks and permit them to spring back to fiat form so that they can readily be sharpened.

3. A picker drum for fiber cleaning machines comprising in combination a rotatable shaft, a series of elastic saw disks mounted thereon, said disks being movable axially of the shaft but held against rotation relative thereto, means for spacing the disks from each other, a pair of clamping heads on the shaft between which the saw disks are arranged, one of said heads being adjustable toward the other to clamp the saw disks together, and blocks interposed be tween each clamping head and its adjacent saw disk, the blocks of one head being oifset angularly with respect to those of the other head whereby the saw disks are flexed axially when the clamping heads are forced together.

4:. A picker drum for fiber cleaning machines comprising in combination a rotatable shaft, a series of elastic saw disksmounted thereon, said disks being movable axially of the shaft but held against rotation relatire thereto, means for spacing the disks from each other, a pair of clamping heads on the shaft between which the saw disks are arranged, a nut on the shaft for forcing one of the heads toward the other, and

means interposed between the clamping heads and the adjacent saw disks to axially flex or crimp the saw disks when the clamping heads are forced together, the adjustable clamping head being readily movable to loosen the saw disks and permit them to spring back to flat form so that they can readily be sharpened.

5. In a cotton cleaning or re-ginning mechanism, a toothed cylinder formed of separable, peripherally toothed, axially spaced disks clamped together, each disk being, as an entirety, radially disposed in relation to the axis of the cylinder and being flexible on or around lines passing across the faces of the disks and being flexed substantially as set forth to position the teeth of the cylinder, as an entirety, as described whereby they will intersect at all points lines which are parallel to the axis and peripheral to the surface generated by said teeth during their rotation.

6. In a cotton cleaning or re-ginning mechanism, a toothed cylinder formed of separable, peripherally toothed, flexible, elastic, axially spaced disks clamped together, each of said disks being, as an entirety, radially disposed in relation to the axis of the cylinder, and clamping devices carried by the cylinder and adapted to flex the disks substantially as set forth to cause the teeth of the cylinder, as an entirety, to intersect at all points lines parallel to the axis and peripheral to the surface generated by said teeth during their rotation.

7. A picker drum for fiber cleaning machines comprising in combination a series of elastic saw disks, a plurality of series of spacing blocks of which each series is arranged along a line parallel to and radially distant from the axis of the drum, and clamping heads between which the disks are arranged, one of said heads being adapted to exert pressure against the adjacent saw disk at points in line with alternate series of said spacing blocks and the other clamping head being adapted to exert pressure on its adjacent saw disk at points in line with the other series of spacing blocks, whereby the saw disks are flexed or offset in the direction of the drum axis and securely clamped together by the said heads.

8. A picker drum for fiber cleaning machines comprising in combination a series of elastic saw disks, a plurality of series of spacing blocks arranged between the disks on lines parallel to and radially distant from the axis of the drum, a series of rods extending through the saw disks and the said spacing blocks and adapted to hold the latter in position in relation to the saw disks, and clamping heads between which the saw disks are arranged, one of said heads being adapted to exert pressure against the adjacent saw disk at points in line'with alternate seriesof the said; spae-e ing blocks and the other clamping head be,- ing adapted to exert pressure on its adjacent saw disk at points in line with the other series of spacing blocks, whereby the saw disks are flexed or offset in the direction of the drum axis and securely clamped together by the said heads.

9. A picker drum for fiber. cleaningsmachines comprlslng in combination a series of elastic saw disks having their centralparts saw disk at points in line-With the other series of spacingblocks, whereby thesaw disks are flexed or offset in the direction of the drum axis and securely clamped together by the said heads.

10.,In a machine for separating cotton fibers from each other, a picking drum formed of a series of normally flat toothed disks secured together ona common axis, a

seriesof sets of disk flexing devices, one of each set bearing against each disk at a point remote from the axis and holding a portion of the periphery of said disk flexed away from the transverse planes normally occupied by the disk when flat, and suitable abutments carried by the cylinder reacting on the flexing devices.

11. A drum formed of a series of normallyflat disks secured together on a com mon axis, a series of sets of disk-flexing devices, one of eachset bearing against each disk at points remote from the axis and those bearing against each disk pressing against it alternately around the axis in opposite directions and each flexing device holding a part of the periphery of the disk flexed away from the transverse plane normally occupied by the disk when flat, and suitable abutments for the flexing devices carried by the drum.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures, in the presence of witnesses.

JAMES C. GARNER. C. S. REYNOLDS. Witnesses:

Joan M. BOOTH, T. H. DISENENS, F. P. FOLEY, G. D. GARRETT.

Copies of this patent may. be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. 0. 

